Yeah, weird dual entry there; though I can imagine it. I was also disappointed with Dollhouse in its first season. This was a new Whedon show and his last one - Firefly - was a homerun in quality from the pilot onwards. Dollhouse wasn't (although opinions on that certainly vary), and that was a big disappointment. At the end of the day, though, even in its first season it was still one of the best things on television, despite the frankly quite average first half of the season.

That makes perfect sense to me, actually. With all of the talent involved, an interesting premise, and of course Joss Whedon writing, I felt let down almost from the beginning. While there were moments of good writing, great performances, and exciting mythology building, by and large the show spent most of it's time seeming like an infomercial for Miss Dushku. Which essentially it was....

I truly believe Dollhouse would have been more of a success if it had been a Whedon written show that starred Eliza, instead of a Whedon show written TO star Eliza....

So yeah, I dutifully watched every week. And though it was seldom(though occasionally) what I wanted it to be, I'll still kinda miss it. Thus it makes sense to lament it's passing and feel disappointed....

For me and obviously judging from the ratings others as well "Firefly" wasn't a homerun from the pilot onwards, the fan reaction was also very mixed around the time of Firefly's premiere, a lot of the people who loved "Buffy" didn't much care for the whole sci-fi western thing. It only started to really pick up steam in it's last few episodes. Like "Dollhouse" it struggled to establish a very high concept world and in Firefly's case too many characters at once, in Dollhouse's case too many non-characters. Every Whedon show has taken some time in finding it's feet, I'm getting a bit tired of the Dollhouse bashing and Firefly praising around these parts. Personally I only started to truly appreciate it on second viewing. When it aired at the same time as Buffy and Angel it was definately the lesser of the three.

Any list that misspells Joss at his 'altar' (okay, 1 out of 4 is better than some), puts DH as a disappointment and has Smallville rated higher is not a rating I tend to concern myself with past scanning through.

Lotta times the misspelling of Joss's name is from copy editors who don't know him and correct what they think is a misspelling (or from spell checks that convert Joss to Josh). I would not condemn the writer for this necessarily.

I never really gelled with Firefly as a show. .
I loved the characters, but the episodes themselves were big letdowns. . There are really only 3 or 4 episodes that really stand out for me but even then they wouldnt ever come to mind when thinking about my favorite Whedonverse episodes.
On the other hand I really enjoyed the movie, and felt that the movie was everything that the show should have been.

I really think a lot of the disappointment with Dollhouse is to much fan anticipation. If they had announced it and gotten to work right away (if there was no strike that is), and if it had gotten a Fall spot rather than a Winter one, things may have gone more smoothly for Dollhouse. . Instead we had a year to sit with it before it came out, and in that time I think people just expected to much due to the anticipation.
I'm not saying the first episodes would have been a roaring success, but not as looked at as the huge disappointments that they are now.

as for the list I'm glad Supernatural made the list, and in a higher spot than normal.

One misspell in a series of correct spellings means typo. ;) Or Canadianness.

Not Canadianness - we know how to spell Joss's name. I think it was a typo.

I didn't really even know who Joss Whedon was when I started watching Firefly on TV and yet I was hooked by the end of the first episode shown (Train Job, of course).

I was also hooked on Dollhouse from the first episode. I had no problem relating to Echo and because it was from the mind of Joss Whedon, I knew it would get better. After all, even though I was late to the party, I had been capitivated by both Buffy and Angel from the first episodes I saw, loved Firefly and Dr. Horrible. Why would I stop trusting the man now?

For me, each of his series, from BtVS to Dollhouse has shown growth and maturity, dealing with increasingly more complex issues and themes. That isn't to say that Buffy didn't have its share of dark and complex themes over its seven seasons - and I love each of them - but on the whole, I think Joss has raised more questions and possibly become more overt at doing so, with each series he has created. I love the progression.

I've loved everything Joss has done and I think there has been a definite progression in terms of maturity, and courage to delve into extremely deep and dark themes.
I also think that anyone who is still disenchanted with the first season - or even the first half of the first season - of Dollhouse, should go back and watch the first season of Buffy, as well as the first half of season two. It took time, much unevenness and some big stumbles, to really find it's footing.

I'm so sad that Dollhouse isn't getting the same opportunity. I believe that given say, three full seasons, after the first short season, it would have turned out to be my favorite of all Joss's creations.